Genesis 6 Commentary

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The story of Noah's ark is one of the most misunderstood in the Bible. This true account of God’s saving Grace is sometimes dismissed as a fairy tale, and often unfairly ridiculed.

The Biblical account of Noah's ark is amazing to anyone who will take the time to study it.

The flood account as written in the bible has been used in almost every culture in the world. These cultures developed as people groups distributed after the flood at the time of Babel (See Genesis chapter 11). Though many of these cultures have distorted the details, or changed them to suit their own customs and beliefs. The bible gives us the earliest* version which was later perverted by the Babylonians and other cultures (read "The flood of Noah and the flood of Gilgamesh”" ICR - IMPACT No. 285 March 1997 by Frank Lorey, M. A. available online). The bible gives us the one true account of the flood.

* claims that other accounts are earlier do not hold up.
Ask yourself how was it determined that such-and-such religion allegedly 'pre-dates' the Bible?

Though many people have heard fictionalized versions of the account, or have seen pictures in children’s books of Noah’s ark, the majority have not studied the Biblical account itself.

Consequently those who reject the idea that the flood was a real event often do so based on incorrect ideas they had from the beginning, ideas not based on scripture.

There are very few parallels between the images of Noah’s ark in children’s books and the ark as described in the Bible.

Even the shape of the ark itself has been distorted as you will see.

What follows is the true story of Noah, the ark, and the flood taken word for word from the Bible. I have added footnotes below various lines of scripture to answer many objections people have had.

The Nephilim ("Giants") and a warning from Matthew

The book of Matthew in the New Testament warns us that "But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be."
Matthew 24:37-39 (KJV)

This is an important verse it tells us what the world will be like before Jesus returns. But it makes sense only when we understand what the days of Noah were like. Many realize that there will be a great abundance of sin in the end times and that there will also be a coming judgment. But something that many are unaware of is that the earth in the days preceding the 2nd coming of Jesus Christ will also be filled with the Nephilim, just as they were "in the days of Noah".

Genesis 6 (English-KJV)

- but there will be a reoccurrence / not merely a reappearance - for there were giants “after that” but in the days after the flood they were not as great in number.

1) "And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,

(2)
"That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose."

The term "sons of God" (~yhil{a/h’-ynEb) is translated from the Hebrew "Bene HaElohim", which means "sons of Elohim" a name often used for God. In the Old Testament this term is used only in reference to angels (Job 1:6, 2:1, 38:7), it is never used to refer to believers. Some manuscripts of the Greek Old Testament (the Septuagint) translate the term "bene HaElohim" as "angels". This would render Genesis 6:2 as "That the angels of God saw the daughters of men…." This term also is used only of creatures created directly by God, not ones brought about by human birth. This gives weight to the angel argument.
Angels are called “sons of God“ because they did not have human parents, but were created directly by God. In Luke 3:38 Adam is called “the son of God” because he too was directly created, but it is Jesus that is the only begotten son of God.

Angels are also called sons of God in Luke 20:36

The “daughters of men” is translated from “Benoth adam” (~d’a’h’ tAnB) and means “daughters of Adam”. These are not the daughters of Cain specifically, but of Adam and all of his sons (of which there are many, don‘t forget Genesis 5:4 “And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters:”(KJV). Some have taught that the sons of God refer to the line of Seth (the Sethites), and that the “daughters of Adam” were the line of Cain (the Cainites). But this view is not biblical. Cain likely repented of his sin, and had Godly children. The Septuagint (Greek translation of the Hebrew bible) renders "sons of God" as "angels of God". Why would it refer only to daughters of Cain, what was wrong with the daughters of Seth?

No man (even those who are born again) are true physical sons of God. The term “sons of God” can only refer to angels, and taking into account their actions in this chapter, it is clear that these are the fallen angels. Besides, Seth was not God (so how could they be sons of God?) and Cain was not Adam

Angels do at times take physical form and appear as men. Scripture tells us that many of us have "entertained angels unaware" Hebrews 13:2. Some of these woman either were taken by force, or were with these fallen angels believing they were human men.

Satan knew that a man (Jesus, God in the form of a man) would someday be born that would destroy him. But he did not know when or by whom. He may have known that this man (Jesus) could only be born of Noah's bloodline. So here we see a direct attempt by Satan to corrupt that bloodline by having fallen angels have sexual relations with women.

The only way for God to redeem mankind was to have a messiah born through the offspring of the creation that fell. Satan’s attempts at corrupting that bloodline represents his desire to prevent the birth of Christ (that and murdering the first born in __) and his hatred of the Jewish people.

Some have objected to this teaching, claiming that
"angels do not engage in sexual activities"
("Were the ‘sons of God’ and/or Nephilim extraterrestrials?" By Ken Ham, Jonathan Sarfati, and Carl Wieland, Ed. Don Batten, The Revised and Expanded Answers Book
Chapter 9) and use Matthew 22:30 to support this. But what this verse actually says is that the angels in Heaven do not marry. It does not say anything about whether or not they can have sexual relations.

"For in the resurrection they [humans] neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven" (Matthew 22:30 KJV)

Besides Genesis 6 verse 2 seems to indicate that these relations were with force ("they took them wives").

Satan is greatly outnumbered. The bible tells us that only 1/3 of the angels fell with him (Revelation 12:4,9). By women giving birth to these abominations Satan was also trying to even the playing field a bit. If more and more Nephilim were born, he may have thought he could defeat God. We know though that no matter how many Satan has on his side that God is all powerful and all knowing, and ultimate victory is his.

The Fallen ones

Nephilim means "the fallen ones" which comes from a verb which means "to fall away" (pg 26 Learn the bible in 24hrs by Chuck Missler)
"to cast down" or "desert". This definition fits Jude well:
These angels were cast down and they left their first habitation.

These verses are important. Many just scan over them, and miss the fact that these are not merely human men and woman getting married and procreation (reproducing). There is something evil going on here, and it is one of the main reasons God sent the flood. Many of the people who perished in the flood were actually Nephilim. This is explained below.

So an easy way to understand Genesis 6 verse 1 and 2 is to read them as
"And it came to pass, when [human] men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,
"That the sons of God [fallen angels] saw the daughters of [human] men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose."

This will be discussed more below

God limits our life spans

(3)
"
And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years."

The lifespan of humans (and animals) have decreased significantly from ancient times. Extra biblical accounts of long life spans are covered extensively by Dr. Cuozzo.

The 120 year limitation in Genesis 6:3 (as is proved by Genesis 11) was simply God setting the mark to which we were to gradually degenerate and that age
would be the maximum longevity obtainable by humans. Only a handful of people in recent years have lived to 120. See page 151 in "Buried Alive."
The reduction in lifespan was not something that happened the next minute or day or week. When you look at the
ages of the people from Shem to Abraham. From 600
years to 175 years. What about
them? Read Genesis Chapter 11. They were all
post-flood people.

Giants

(4)
"
There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown."

These Giants were not Neanderthals as some have proposed. Neanderthals were humans with a better genetic makeup and had longer life spans than we do today (see chapter_).

These Giants or Nephilim (from the Hebrew naphal which means "fall", Morris pg 172, The Genesis Record) existed before the flood, and apparently after that according to verse 4.

The Dead Sea Scrolls: A New Translation by Michael O. Wise quotes from the "Sermon on the flood" (4Q370) stating that all living creatures that lived on land died during the flood (except for those that were on the ark, or lived in the water). "all died; not even the giants escaped" (pg 331, Wise, Dead Sea Scrolls). This may be important in determining their fate.

Who were the Giants? Claims by Hovind and others that pre-flood men grew to heights of 12 feet can not be substantiated. Whether or not a giant skeleton has been found is not the issue. The question is - was this
the norm for people living at that time? Fossil evidence seems to indicate that giantism was not the norm at any time in earths history. Hovind shows a slide in his presentation of a "human" skeleton laying on a rock slab. But this is a drawing, not a real picture like he claimed in earlier versions of his seminar. Nor is there any evidence that this was a flood burial. On the other hand, the Neanderthal burials are best explained as post-flood descendants of Noah who buried their dead in caves. Neanderthals were not giants, neither were preflood people.

If they were not Giants who were?

The “giants” of the bible are not giants as we would understand the word today.
The word “giant” in Genesis 6:4 comes from

The Giants, the mighty ones

The term "the mighty ones" in Genesis 6:4 comes from the Hebrew "HaGibborim" the Greek Septuagint translated the word as "gigantes" which means "earth born" and comes from the Greek word "gigs" it does not mean Giant.

There were certainly some large animals in the past, and even some humans that have reached a large height (Robert Wadlow sp for example) but a height of 8 feet or more was never the norm at anytime in human history. Do not let a few anomalous skeletons lead you to believe that Adam or his descendants were giants.

Nephilim after the flood

Genesis 6:4 indicates that the Nephilim existed “also after that” (there are tribes in Genesis 14 and 15 that consisted of Nephilim - Rephaim, Emim, Horim, Zamsummim were all Nephilim. Arba, Anak and his sons were Anakim. Goliath and his four brothers were a “derivative offspring” of the Nephilim (pg 29 Missler 24 hours) - but clearly not in as great of numbers as they did before the flood. The spirits of the Nephilim that drown in the flood may well be the demons of the New Testament. They have lost their bodies, and seek to possess and overtake the body of another whether it be man __ or animal (pigs ___) .

Sin before and after the flood

(5)"And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually."

Question: "I don't understand why the flood happened,
because men sinned again after the flood so what was the point?"
Nick James 11/04

The point of the flood was not to wipe men or sin off the face of the earth. Sin has entered into the very nature of man. Because Satan would just tempt people over and over again. Satan even tried to tempt Christ to sin (He didn't though).
There is a difference between the people living at that time and ourselves. Read verse 5 again. The bible says that "every imagination" and all the "thoughts of the heart was only evil continually"

We all have some sin in our lives, but these people sinned 24/7. It was the only thought in their heart. Though we live in a time where there is suffering and even cruelty at times, there is also a lot of love and a lot of compassion in this world.

However the bible also says that in the last days men’s hearts will again be like those at this time.

Part of the reason for the flood was also because of the Nephilim (see Genesis 6 verse 2). Though they existed also after this, it cut down their numbers.

Can God repent?

(6)
"And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart."

Is this a contradiction? Can God repent? I don't think it is. I will elaborate on this later.

God tells Noah a flood is coming

7 "And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them".

8 "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD."

Noah and his sons

9 "These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God."

Here scripture tells us that Noah was a just man, but also that he was "perfect in his generations" This term does not refer to his spiritual condition (no man is perfect spiritually, as we have all inherited sin from Adam) but means” without blemish”, “sound” “healthful” “without spot” and “unimpaired” (pg 27 Missler 24 hours), while many people of that day have perverted their bloodline by having sex with these fallen angels (whether knowingly or not) Noah’s genealogy was not blemished. It is for this reason that the flood came. It protected the bloodline of the coming messiah from being perverted by the Nephilim (the offspring of the fallen angels).

10 "And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth."

11 "The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence."

12 "And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth."

We do not know the population of the earth at the time of the flood, but from scripture we know that the evil of these people was quite abundant.

13 "And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth."

God did not create a world filled with violence, and it is clear that he despises it here. This is more evidence that he did not use evolution to create us with animals suffering and killing each other on the earth for millions of years.

God said he would "destroy" the wicked men on the earth at this time. This could be why we find more animal than human fossils. God's punishment on man was more severe.

Make an ark of gopher wood

14 "Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch."

What kind of wood did Noah use?

Question:"Was Noah's ark made
of Gopher wood or Cypress wood ? When I read the New International Version of the Bible it says Cypress wood. The King James version says Gopher wood."
Aniket 7/24/01

Answer:The exact type of wood used is not known. It may have been teak, cypress, or some other hard or hardened wood. Many plants, trees and animals have gone extinct in the years after the flood. Gopher wood may have been one of those trees.

Teak is probably the best type of wood to use in ship construction (Woodmorappe, pg 51, Quoting Barbour 1870, Edwardes 1923). Such structures have been known to resist deterioration for thousands of years
(Woodmorappe, pg 51, Quoting Edwardes 1923, pg 166)

Pitch

Most if not all oil was formed after the flood. The pitch used to waterproof the ark, need not be an derived from oil or coal. Pitch can be extracted by distilling or
heating wood. ("The Pitch for Noah’s ARK by T. B. Walker, B.E., Ph.D. Creation Ex Nihilo 7(1):20 August 1984)

Dimensions of the ark

15 "And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits."

How long is a cubit?

A cubit is the length of your forearm. This length of course varies from person to person. But an average is 18 inches long.

Using the dimensions given in the Bible, we see that the height of the ark was:
300 cubits x 18 inches = 5400 inches
5400 inches divided by 12 inches = 450 feet Length

Below is a drawing of Noah's ark superimposed on a soccer
field. From this picture you can see just how long the ark was. Now picture three of these (3 floors) stacked on top of each other.

The ark was most likely a long barge... as shown in this picture. An ark constructed in this way would be more sturdy in big waves. There is also more floor space.

Although commonly pictured that way, Noah’s Ark was not curved at the front, back bottom or sides! If it was shaped that way, it would be torn apart in the storm. Thrashing and turning about...

There was plenty of room on the ark for all the animals.

Only ONE window?

16 "A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof;

This most likely means that there was an opening for ventilation one cubit high, and running the entire length of the ark.

Animal waste could have been thrown overboard, keeping the ark free from harmful gas. There may have been an intricate self cleaning system built on the ark to flush the waste out of the stalls with little or no labor from Noah's family.

Animals often recycle their waste while they hibernate.

Three floors of space

"with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it."

There were 3 floors on the ark. Some have said that this is a reference to the Triune nature of God. There is only one way to salvation and that is God: 1)Father 2)Son 3)Holy Spirit.

Likewise at the time of the flood there was only one way to be saved, and that was by the ark (with 3 floors).

Three floors on the ark would triple the floor space of the ark allowing for more animals and food.

17 "And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die."

This verse tells us that Noah did not need to bring fish on the ark. It says that the animals that live on land and breath air will be destroyed.

Did Noah take fish on board?

Question from a reader:"How did Noah get all of the sea and water animals on the ark?" from Theresa A. 4/18/02

Answer:
God told Noah to take ONLY the animals that lived on land. There is no need to take fish, octopus, whales, etc on board. Noah did not need to take aquariums for aquatic animals. They were able to survive outside the ark.

Fresh vs. saltwater fish

Some have argued that fish would have died due to the imbalance of salt caused by such a flood. But the fact is, we do not know how salty the sea was before the flood.
It is likely that it contained less salt than it does presently.
If the fountains of the great deep (which broke open at the time of the flood, Genesis 7:11) were under water volcanoes they would have emitted large amounts of steam and hot water. This combination would have killed many fish and other sea creatures. Ninety-five percent of the fossil record consists of marine creatures. Such numbers testify that many of these creatures perished in the flood as well.

Many species of fish are able to tolerate wide changes in salinity (How did fish and plants survive the Genesis Flood? by Don Batten and Jonathan Sarfati). There are even species of fish that migrate between fresh and salt water.
Keep in mind there has been a lot of new species (not new "Kinds") of fish since the time of the flood. These result in a loss of genetic information from the original "Kind". Tolerance to such things as changes in salinity may be one such loss.

All flesh... under heaven

The bible also tells us that all creatures living on land that is "under heaven" (Gen 6:17) will perish. The stellar heavens cover the entire earth. The flood was a global not a local event.

Did Noah take plants on the ark?

Plants were taken on the ark for food, but plants in the form of seeds may also have floated around, and rooted themselves in the soil as the flood waters receded. Keep in mind that the farther back we go in time, the more complex the plants and seeds were. It is not impossible for them to survive a year long flood. Also it is unlikely the water was too salty for them to grow as some skeptics have claimed (see above info on saltwater fish)

Noah was not responsible for replanting every type of tree in the world today. God never placed this Burdon on Noah, therefore we can assume God took care of it.

How many people were on the ark?

18 "But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee."

The bible says that a total of 8 people were on the ark. These were Noah and his wife, his 3 sons and their wives.

When was the flood?

The date of the flood was calculated in a study done by Dr J. Osgood and published in Creation Magazine. In it he determined that data from the Bible places the Flood at 2304 BC +/- 11 years. ("The Date of Noah’s Flood" by Dr J. Osgood, Creation 4(1):10–13, March 1981)

Because the flood occurred at or around the year 2304 BC, and the flood covered the entire earth, then we know that all civilizations discovered by archaeologists must fit into the last 4,300 years.

To find out how long ago the flood was add 2304 (for 2304 BC) to today’s date. If it is the year 2006 then add 2304 to 2006 for 4,310 years ago.

How long did it take to build the ark?

Noah was warned of the flood when he was 500 years old. The flood did not start until he was 600 (Genesis 7:11)

So it may have been as long as
a hundred years ("Amazing facts about Noah's ark" by Ken Ham and Mark Dinsmore) . If this was true, then it wasn't a short notice by any means.

The Bible says that God actually withheld the waters until the Ark was completed.

This is more than ample time for 8 people to build a structure of this size. Men have used animals in construction since the beginning of time. We simply do not know what animals were used and how, but a dinosaur could pull much more lumber than an elephant.

The Bible didn't say that Noah had to build the ark by hand. I am sure they had quite sophisticated tools to help them. There were great things built in the past (the pyramids for instance) that we marvel at today.

Much of this technology was lost at the time of the flood (batteries etc). Some of the "know how" existed for a while after the flood (I will use the example of the pyramids again). The people in Genesis had the benefit of accumulated knowledge. They lived and learned for hundreds of years, and passed that knowledge on to their children.

Did Noah have slaves? Help from the apes

Some have suggested that Noah may have had slaves to help in the construction. But if this was true, it wouldn't really seem fair that the slaves would perish in the flood. It is more likely that some of the stronger apes (like the Australopithecines and Pithecanthropus erectus were used as helpers).

2 Chronicles 9:21 and 1 Kings 10:22 speak of apes (Hebrew "qowph", and also "qoph") being on board boats.

2 Chronicles 9:21 "For the king's ships went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram: every three years once came the ships of Tarshish bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks."

1 Kings 10:22 "For the king had at sea a navy of Tharshish with the navy of Hiram: once in three years came the navy of Tharshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks."

Animals like dinosaurs could be recruited to carry great loads of wood as well.

Besides there is no mention of the use of slaves to build the ark in the bible.

(*note the longevity of man in terms of hundreds of years is dealt with elsewhere on my page)

Noah preached to the people before the flood

In 2 Peter 2:5 we are told that Noah was a preacher to the people who lived before the flood:

2 Peter 2:5 "And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;"

Noah preached to the people in vain for 100 years. They likely ridiculed him, the same way we are ridiculed for believing in a coming judgment when Christ returns.

Two of every kind of animal

See notes on Chapter 7 verse 2.

19 "And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female."

20 "Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive."

God makes it clear here that only the "Kind" of animal needed to be brought. You only need representatives of the cat family, not every species of cat (lions, tigers, etc).
The variety that exists today is an example of post-flood speciation.

Noah did not need to concern himself with trying to find specimens of every kind of animal as scripture tells us in verse 20 that the animals "shall come unto thee". God supernaturally guided the animals to the ark and kept them from attacking each other once aboard.

The evil men of that time should have taken notice of this amazing animal migration, and believed Noah's warnings to them.

Was the Ark big enough to house all those animals?

Most critics claim there was not enough room for all the animals on the ark. When you ask them if they know how big the ark was, they will usually admit they do not. When you ask them how many animals would have to go on board, they also admit they do not know. So their argument falls apart right there. How can they say an unknown number of animals fit on an ark of unknown size?

The bible gives us the dimensions (see___)

We must consider the fact that only every "kind" of animal needs to go on the ark. Not every species of that kind.
This is an important point. It reduces the number of animals (living and extinct) from millions, to thousands!

Many "breeds" of dogs are derived from the dog "kind". Golden Retrievers, Labs, chows, Huskies etc. are all different breeds of the same kind of animal.

If the term "kind" refers to animals at the "family" level then there were only about 2,000 animals on the ark.
If the term "kind" refers to animals at genera then it would still only be 16,000 animals (Woodmorappe, "Noah's ark: How did God do it?"). Both numbers are well reasonable for care and feeding.

Stop and consider that only 15% of animals are larger than a sheep! The majority were the size of rats, or smaller. So there would be plenty of room. (source__)

There would be over 100,00 sq. feet of floor space on the ark.
This is larger than 20 standard basketball courts, and definitely more room than is needed to house all the animals. There would even be plenty of room left over for them to run around and exercise.

Only 2 of each "kind" not 2 of each breed or even species had to go on the ark. See my page on speciation and variation for more information.

Gather food for the animals

21 "And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them."

22 "Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he."

Noah was responsible for gathering the food. If the animals hibernated they would recycle the food already in their system, and thus cut the amount of food necessary considerably. Even if the animals did not hibernate, there was more than adequate room for the food. There were 3 floors on the ark. Perhaps the upper floor held the food and was distributed to the lower levels with self-feeders. Fruits and vegetables can be dried and then compressed to reduce their mass by up to 95 percent (Woodmorappe, pg 98).

Fish could also be caught in nets and brought unto the ark for food.

Genesis 7 (English-KJV)

1 "And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation."

Did Noah take 2 of each kind or 7 of each kind?

2 "Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female."

There are some people who think there is a contradiction here. There isn't. The bible says that Noah is to take 2 of each kind of animal. But he is to take 7 of each "clean" kind of animal. These clean animals may have been used as offerings.

Question: "How did Noah know what were the clean and unclean animals, as those rules weren't given until Moses, 1000 years or so after the flood?" Brian 6/5/02

Answer: coming soon

3 "Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth."

Birds were mentioned in the previous chapter (see verse __). It seems that birds of the ground (penguins, ostrich etc) would be taken on in pairs, while birds of the air (birds that can fly) were taken on in sevens.

4 "For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth."

- Is God saying here "in seven days..." he will cause it to rain?

5 "And Noah did according unto all that the LORD commanded him."

6 "And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth."

7 "And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood."

This again repeats that only Noah and his family were on the ark (see previous notes for chapter 6 verse 18)

8 "Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth,"

9 "There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah."

If there were 7 of some animal how could they go on in two's? It may be that the "sevens" mentioned in previous verses were 7 pair (or 14). If this is the case, then you can still have 2 going on at a time.

10 "And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth."

Where did all the water come from?

11 "In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened."

12
And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.

This verse tells us how many days it rained. Noah and his family stayed on the ark much longer than this though. See comments on Genesis ___ (under construction).

How long did it rain?

Question from a visitor:"Genesis 7.12 "and the rain was upon the earth
40 days and 40 nights"

But Genesis 7.24 says: "and the waters prevailed upon the
earth an hundred and fifty days"

In fact, there is at least 4 mentions of 40 days and nights and 2 mentions of 150. How does one account for this? Shawn 3/9/02

My response:
You don’t seem to understand the context of these verses. The Bible says that it rained for 40 days. The water level
got higher and higher during this time. Then it stopped raining after 40 days.

Did the water all go away immediately? No. It took some time for them to go back down, and for the mountains to rise up etc. This is why the Bible says the waters prevailed for 150 days. This is how long it took for the
dry land to appear again.

There is no contradiction here

Are you really going to let something as silly as this keep you from having a relationship with God?

13 "In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark;"

14 "They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort."

15 "
And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life."

16 "And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in."

17 "And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth."

18 "And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters."

Question from a reader:"As for the flood itself, modern research shows that it was restricted to the area surrounding the Mediterranean, which was the known extent of the world in Biblical times."
from Bud 3/8/02

My response:

The following verse and many others like it destroy the claim that the flood was only a local event. The bible says it covered the whole earth. Those who think this is a local event mistakenly think that the ark stayed in one small place, and landed in the same region where it was built. If the flood was local, then Noah and his family wasted all their time building an ark when they could have just moved.

19 "And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered."

Even the highest mountains were covered by water

20
"Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered."

Again once the highest mountains are covered by water it ceases to be a local flood.

Was the air pressure to great for Noah to breathe?

Question: "If the flood covered
the highest mountain by 22 and a half feet how
did Noah and all the animals breath? The oxygen
would have been too low."May 1, 2001 email

Answer: The mountains we have today are a result of the flood. They formed as the flood waters receded. So the oxygen level would not be a problem, because they were not that high up. In addition, since the flood covered the entire earth, the atmosphere would also rise. So the air pressure would not have been as great at that level, as it normally would.

As the ark floated up, so did
the air around them.

Was the Flood Global or Local?

Some Christians compromise and claim that the Flood of Noah was a local flood. They say that it only covered a small region.
Well, if this is true, then God is a liar. Because God promised to never send a flood (like Noah’s) again.

The flood was not local. It covered the whole face of the earth, even the tallest mountains were covered. At the point where water covers the highest mountains, it ceases to be a "local" flood.

This cartoon is by Dan L. He gave me permission to use it on my page.

There is a specific Hebrew word for a local flood. The word used in the bible demands that the flood be of global proportions.

Did anyone besides Noah and his family survive the flood?
Could there have been other boats?

Genesis 9:19 says that the "whole earth overspread."

"This plain declaration (Genesis 10:32) leaves no possibility that any other people survived the worldwide Flood. All the world’s present peoples are descendants of Noah’s three sons and their wives. The gene pool from these six individuals (all originally from Adam and Eve) provided far more than enough genetic variational potential to account for the wide range in national and tribal characteristics which have surfaced since the Flood. The world’s present population of approximately five billion people, likewise, could easily have been developed in approximately 4000 years. An average annual growth rate of 1 2% (only one-fourth the present rate), or an average family size of only 2.5 children per family, could easily accomplish this."

Notes from the "Defenders Study Bible"

Even if others did have a boat, the flood of Noah was a terrible storm. It is unlikely a small boat could survive it.

If the flood was just a natural occurrence, then perhaps others would survive on boats, but as this was a JUDGEMENT by God - any others would have been overturned. After all the bible says that ONLY Noah's family survived. Plus we have no idea how violent the waters were as we have not seen a flood of this magnitude since then. Perhaps only a boat with the dimensions of the ark would last such a flood.

Scripture indicates only Noah and his family remained. This would not be the case if it was a small local flood.

All flesh died

21
And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man:

There were no land living survivors other than Noah's family

Nostrils and the breath of life

22
All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died.

Again this verse makes it clear that fish did not die in the flood. Some have also suggested that this would include insects that breathe through their skin and not their nose.

Only Noah's family survived

23
And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark.

24
And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days.

The purpose of this page is to dispel the notions that Noah’s Ark did not exist. Or that the Ark was not big enough for ALL the animals.

Some even say that the flood was not global, but covered only a few miles of land.

There are even some people who think that the Ark was merely a parable dreamt up by God to show His mercy for His people. - An innocent man (Jesus Christ) who takes upon himself the sins of the world, and suffers a horrible death in Our place does not need to make up a story to show Gods mercy.

Think of how God's spirit must ache
when he sees pictures in children’s books of a rounded and over crowded ark. These pictures of the ark are usually so small that the giraffes have there heads sticking out of windows.. etc.

Such images contribute to the persistent thoughts that "Noah’s ark was either not big enough for all the animals.. or never existed at all"

The Bible says that a coming judgment by fire will soon take place.
- Just like a judgment by water came in the days of Noah.
So if Satan can convince people that the flood never happened, then why should they worry about a coming judgment by fire?

The Second Book of Peter, chapter 3 says:

"Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, "Where is the promise of His coming". (referring to Christ’s return to earth)

"For this they are willingly ignorant". (v 5)

"Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water,
perished". (v 6)

These verses say that they "are willingly ignorant" - they ignore the evidence that a world wide flood has occurred. Because to admit there was a flood, (as the Bible clearly states), you would have to admit that there is a God, and that He has the right to judge His creation.

Someone emailed me in regards to the above statement. A friend of theirs said:

"...that if there is a flood, it could have just been a part of evolution and not guided by a god. So you can believe in a flood but not believe the Bible."

Sure, evolutionists admit there have been small local floods in the past, just as there are today. But you will not find ONE who will admit to a world wide flood.

The funny thing is, if the Bible did not mention a world wide flood, Evolutionists would have no problem looking at the fossil record, and believing that there WAS one.

But, their desire to deny the existence of God won't allow them to see one because of the fact that one is described in the Bible.

Many geologists will tell you that the sedimentary deposits (layers of rock) found all over the world were formed by water (like a catastrophic flood). This is not to say that all fossils are a result of the flood, some were formed before and some after - but the majority can be attributed to the flood described in the bible.

Has Noah's ark been found?

I believe that various people throughout history have seen what remains of the ark. However today we do not know exactly where the ark is. We do know that it landed on one of the mountains of Ararat.

It is not really important whether Noah's ark remains today - God never promised to preserve it for us to find, he only promised to preserve it for the duration of the flood, and to preserve the people inside it.

It is possible that the ark was dismantled after the flood, and the wood used to build houses. Why would anyone leave that much wood to just rot when it could be used for other things?

If you had no house to live in, would you wait for more trees to grow, or would you look over your shoulder and take the wood that is readily available?

Noah's wife

Question:"Do you know the name of Noah's wife?" From Denise W. 9/9/01

Answer:We know the names of Noah’s children, but the Bible doesn't tell us his wife’s name.

It looks as if one of Noah’s sons rebelled against God after the flood and started worshipping the son.

I will also answer the ?'s below when this page is completed.

What Did All The Animals Eat?

What Was Life Like In The Post Flood World?

Would the animals on the ark fight eachother?

--

--

Question:
"If the flood didn’t dissipate at once, then how long did Noah ACTUALLY spend at sea?" from Sunny M. age 19, 11/11/01

Answer:
Another reader has provided the following answer:
"It says that the waters started to fall on February 17, and Noah left the ark on February 27 of the next year. He was on the ark a year and 10 days."

I will check this answer for accuracy, and will add scripture references if it is correct.

Genesis 8 (English KJV)

1 "And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters asswaged;

The word "remembered" does not imply that God forgot about Noah. It means that God kept his promise to Noah.

It stops raining

2 "The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained;

The waters recede

3 "And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated.

The flood waters recede

Question:
"Where did all the water go?" from Sunny M. age 19, 11/11/01

Answer:
The bible says that the valleys sank down (creating new rivers) and the mountains and the land rose up. We still have the same amount of water, but some is in the atmosphere, and some is in the ocean. There is most likely more of the globe covered by water now, than there was in Adams day.

If the mountains were pushed back down and the ocean floors pushed back up, there would be more than enough water to cover the globe.

4 "And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.

The ark landed on the mountains of Ararat. It could be one of a number of mountains in this area.

Map of Turkey.

The waters decreased

(5)
"And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen."

Noah and his family stayed on the ark for several months after they landed before getting off. This would give the plants more time to grow, and make sure the land was safe to live on.

Noah opens the window

6 "And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made:

Does this mean it was closed the whole time?

A raven is sent

7 "And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth.

It is possible that the raven did not return because it is an eater of carrion and could survive outside the ark (feasting on the floating carcasses). Regardless there were still 13 other ravens on board the ark. The dove on the other hand doesn't eat the remains, and returns.

A Dove is sent

8 "Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground;"

9 "But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark."

10 "And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark;"

11 "And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth."

There were likely many floating log mats at this time which later took root and grew. It is certainly possible for an olive tree sprig to grow in a short period of time.

12 "And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove; which returned not again unto him any more.

Not many people realize that Noah and his family stayed on the ark an additional week after the dove failed to return. This would allow the plants even more time to grow.

13 "And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry.

This "six hundredth and first year" is Noah's age. Not the age of the earth, which was a few thousand years old at this time.

14 "And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dried.

Getting off the ark

15 "And God spake unto Noah, saying,

16 "Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons' wives with thee.

17 "Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee, of all flesh, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth.

18 "And Noah went forth, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him:

Animals get off the ark

19 "Every beast, every creeping thing, and every fowl, and whatsoever creepeth upon the earth, after their kinds, went forth out of the ark."

At this point the animals were still under God's control. God would have supernaturally kept them from attacking each other as they got off the ark. There would be no sense in preserving these animals during the flood, and then having no forethought on how to preserve them directly after.

After the animals had enough time to reproduce in numbers that would preserve their kind, these restraints would have been lifted.

Animal migration: Polar bears, kangaroos etc.

Animals such as polar bears, and kangaroos did not need to travel great distances themselves to get where they are today. If just a handful of these species migrated a few miles, and their descendants traveled a few miles, their current distance from the ark landing becomes irrelevant.

Keep in mind kangaroos were not trying to get "back" to Australia. They did not live there before the flood, as the flood reshaped the continents, and created new ecosystems not present before the flood.

20 "And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

21 "And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done."

This again destroys the idea that this was a local flood. If it was a local flood, then that means God promised never to send another local flood - which would mean God lied. We have had many small floods.

No. God was referring to a flood so large it covered the entire globe. His promise was to never again send a flood like that to the earth.

22 "While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

Genesis 9 (English KJV)

1 "And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.

Animals now fear man

(2)"And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered.

Before this animals were not afraid of man. There are some animals which can kill man, so this may cause some to wonder why animals would fear man. But this fear may be the very reason that they do attack men.

Man is now allowed to eat animals

3 "
Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things."

This is the first time in history that God permitted humans to eat meat.
It is likely that sinful man ate meat before the flood. But No man ate meat before the fall (Genesis 3).

Animals on the other hand may have turned on each other right away after Adam and Eve sinned. Scripture is not clear when animals started to eat meat, other than to say it was not before Adam sinned. See also notes on Genesis
8:19 where animals get off the ark).

The use of the human appendix

A common claim made by those who believe in evolution, is that the human appendix is useless. They believe it is gradually reducing in size through time. They believe that it was once larger in our alleged "ape man" ancestors. But due to our lower consumption of plant material it has shrunk.

The most important thing to remember is that we do not have preserved organs of any hominid. We only have bone fragments. Even if we had preserved organs it would be difficult to prove their purpose without a living sample of that creature to test.

But lets just suppose for the sake of the argument that the appendix has shrunk through time. Is that evidence for evolution? No. Remember that all evidence is interpreted. So lets look at the same evidence from a Creation/Degeneration perspective. It may well be that if the appendix has shrunk through the course of mans history. If it has then the change in diet (vegetarian Genesis 1:29 and then allowing meat Gen 9:3 ), in addition to the effects of the curse (Genesis 3) may be responsible.

But is the appendix useless today? The answer appears to be "no". In the course of development, the human embryo has a "very early and rapid development during the critical stages of bowel growth and organization".
("The Human Vermiform Appendix-a General Surgeon's Reflections” by J. Warwick Glover
Creation Ex Nihilo Technical Journal 3:31-38, 1988).

Glover goes on to say: "However, microscopically the tissues of the appendix are complicated and highly specialized, but this qualitative aspect of the organ's growth does not occur until just after birth when the neonate takes on essential bacteria to reside in its colon." ("The Human Vermiform Appendix-a General Surgeon's Reflections” by J. Warwick Glover
Creation Ex Nihilo Technical Journal 3:31-38, 1988).
The appendix helps establish and maintain the bowel-blood barrier for bacteria in this area.("The Human Vermiform Appendix-a General Surgeon's Reflections” by J. Warwick Glover
Creation Ex Nihilo Technical Journal 3:31-38, 1988).

Therefore, since it has a purpose the appendix can not be claimed to be a vestigial organ, but rather the result of creative design.

Other so called "useless" organs are discussed (along with their purpose) on my Vestigial organs page.

We are not allowed to eat with blood in it

4 "
But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.

This is another verse showing that plants are not alive in the Biblical sense of the word.

5 "
And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man."

6 "
Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man."

7 "
And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein."

8 "
And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying,"

9 "
And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you;"

10 "
And with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth."

Were there enough plants to eat after the flood?

Question: "If the flood wiped out all life on earth, then what did the animals eat
as the earth regenerated? Plants grow slower than animals
eat, how did the plants grow fast enough to support all of the animals?" from Sunny M. age 19, 11/11/01

Answer:
Noah and the animals spent some time on the ark after the flood waters receded, (scripture) which would give the plants adequate time to grow outside the ark.

Two things we must remember, we do not know the rate of plant growth post flood, nor do we know how much food animals required at this time. As we have degenerated more and more we are worse off physically, and plants too are (most likely) not as healthy as they once were. Meaning we may have to eat more now to get the same amount of nutrition.

Also the soil in the post flood world might have been very fertile due to the millions of decomposed animals now buried in it.

Inbreeding

Question from a reader:"If Noah brought only 2 of each kind of animal (7 of some), how could there not be inbreeding by the first set of offspring? Same question
applied to Noah and the humans on the Ark?"
Tom W. 6/23/01

Answer:The animals on the ark were closer to the time of creation than the animals we have today are. Therefore we know that they would have better genes, and would not have the problems of genetic load that animals today would have.

Noah's children were also genetically superior to us. They would not have the build up of bad genes to pass on to their children, so marrying a relative was not yet a problem. See notes on Cain's wife.

11 "
And I will establish my covenant with you, neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth."

12 "
And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:"

The first rainbow

13 "
I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth."

14 "
And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud:"

Footnote by Morris:

9:13 my bow. The rainbow, requiring small water droplets in the air, could not form in the prediluvian world where the high vapor canopy precluded rain (Genesis 2:5). After the Flood, the very fact that rainfall is now possible makes a worldwide rainstorm impossible, and the rainbow "in the cloud" thereby becomes a perpetual reminder of God’s grace, even in judgment.

15
And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.

16
And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.

17 "
And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth."

18 "
And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan."

19 "
These are the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread."

This is more evidence that the entire world population perished in the flood, not just people in a small area as in a localized flood.

Verse 19 also tells us that all racial variation in humans can be traced back to Noah's children, and more specifically to the Tower of Babel.

Other Flood legends

The account of the flood in Genesis 6-9 is the one true story of the flood on the earth. It was the subsequent cultures (descendants of 3 son's and their children) that told and retold the events of the great flood. These stories got stretched as they were told and retold, but the bible gives us the only accurate account. The bible did not borrow this story from other (alleged older) stories, but vise versa. These younger cultures borrowed details from Noah's account.

20 "
And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard:"

21
"And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent."

This may be a form of plant degeneration. Perhaps fermentation did not occur before the flood.

22
And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without.

23
And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness.

24
And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him.

25
And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.

26
And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.

27
God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.

28
And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years.

29
And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years: and he died.